A HINT FROM CHINA.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 281, 25 October 1934, Page 8

A HINT FROM CHINA.

(By Ronald Woolfrey.)

An item of news from Pekin the other day must have come as something of a shock to readers in other countries. Very few crimes, according to Western standards, merit the death penalty. Yet, on the Bridge of Heaven, two Chinese police officials were executed for taking part in the illicit drug traffic.

If, in their efforts to stamp out the drug evil, the Chinese authorities have felt themselves compelled to adopt harsh measures, comparison does at least emphasise the laxity of other nations in this respect. Reports submitted to the League of Nations are full of stories of the arrest of drug traffickers. In nine cases out of ten, so it seems, these gentry arc sentenced to short terms of imprisonment, or else have to pay fines which represent only a small proportion of the profits which they have made out of their illicit transactions.

Franklyj in many countries, the penalties imposed have little or no value as a deterrent. They are so inadequate that they are almost an incitement to break the law. In spite of the havoc wrought by the drug traffic, it sometimes seems as if the authorities regard it as one of those “sins which are hardly sins.” In Egypt, where Russell Pasha has made such strides in dealing with the evil a genuine attempt has been made to inflict punishment commensurate with the crime. Notorious drug barons, such as Moliamed Mustapha Nafei and the leaders of the Sawi gang, received no more than their deserts when they were sentenced in Cairo to five years in prison ulus heavy fines. Those countries which are pulling their weight in the international campaign against the drug traffic are constantly complaining that the traffickers gravitate to the places where their nefarious activities, if discovered, will be dealt with lightly. Their haunts become plague-spots to the whole world, since they are used as bases for smuggling to distant countries and continents. . Tims one important point in the scheme of action which the League oi Nations is at present urging is the imposition of uniformly heavy penalties. To act as anything like a deterrent, they must be heavy, because the profits made out of drug trafficking often amount to thousands per cent. Also, all countries must be willing to act together in this matter, otherwise there will he loopholes of which the trafficers will he quick to take advantage.